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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Celestial Reviews welcomes author Lillian Brummet to the blog! Today she is posting a guest blog and giveaway!

Writers – How to Avoid Common Frustrations

When first published, we authors have a rush of emotions
ranging from ecstatic joy that a publisher was interested in our work to fear
and anxiety when we realize how much work is involved after the book is
published. There are a few things that I’ll share here today to help ease the
emotional journey writers face in this career and keep their enthusiasm going.

What I have done is keep some quotes on my bulletin board
along with my own little mission statement- when ever I am feeling overwhelmed or depressed I can look at those
bits of paper and remember why it is that I do this work; I am reminded that
writers can help change the world one word, one reader at a time; I am reminded
to appreciate this opportunity to embrace my curiosity and to face the fear and
do it anyway. This bulletin board sits directly above and slightly to the right
of my computer screen, where I can easily glance at it whenever I need to.

Having connections on writer message and forum boards,
listening to or reading other writer interviews can definitely help – just
knowing others are going through what you are, getting their support, and
hearing their advice for whatever you are going through at the moment is
invaluable. Writers are very supportive people so don’t be afraid to ask even
the most “newbie” question.

Becoming overwhelmed with the office and the long list of
to-do’s is very common. The trick here is to take one day at a time, one moment
at a time – and to reflect your business or marketing plan to reflect that
statement. Sure you want to have a plan for the year or even the next few
years, but what will you focus on this week and what will you do today to reach
that goal? Sometimes it is best to do the easiest things on your daily planner
first because it gives one the sense of accomplishment and seeing things
getting crossed off the list is very encouraging to continue. Otherwise you
might be tempted to give in to your exhaustion and not do anything at all.

Set easily attainable goals that will fit your schedule this
day, this week. For instance you might decide that this month’s goal is to
contact every library in your district, but today’s goal is to connect with 5
of those libraries.

Keep a note on any marketing opportunity in a file on your
computer so that you don’t miss out on anything, but don’t feel like you have
to do the items on that file today. As your schedule opens up and you have an
extra moment you can go to that file and choose one of the items listed there.
That file is like having your own publicity or PR agent – only you don’t have
to pay anyone!

And one last tip for fellow writers today – keep detailed
records of your endeavors using a program like Excel. Initially it may take
some time setting up the method you’ll use for recording information but once
you have that done the chore becomes a very simple one. You’ll find that by
having good, brief notes you’ll spend a lot less time wondering what was said
last, what their information was and having to scroll through endless “sent”
messages to find discover that information.

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comments:

Congratulations Elisa for winning the contest! I hope you enjoy our book! A big hug of appreciation to CeCe as well for putting this contest together and allowing me to reach out to her readers. Lillian - www.brummet.ca